Treasures Untold
by Wolfsong's Rebel
Summary: Sydney and Nigel go in search for a missing headdress. This is my first relichunter story. Be nice. Puma had nothing to do with writing this story.


This is my first relic hunter fic, and I think I'm going to write a sequel to it later on when I have time. The relic in this story does not exist as far as I know. The legend of the missing Wagmatcook chief isn't true. The tribe is, but the rest of their beliefs and rituals I made up for an assignment.  
  
  
  
Treasures Untold  
  
That morning was like any other. She had left for work and arrived at Trinity College around the same time as every day before, but this day felt different. Today as she arrived on campus, she was smiling more than usual. She wasn't sure what brought this expression on. It certainly wasn't the four or five hundred homework papers she had assigned last week, which needed to be graded. She came to realize early in her career that many students took her class not only because it was the most interesting, but that because she was gone a lot. Being the professor of ancient studies sometimes was a hard job all the way around whether grading papers or hunting for relics.  
  
She still wasn't sure why she was in this great mood. There was nothing special about this day. No holidays or vacation time, or birthdays of those close to her fell on this day. Sydney knew that she was not the kind of person to be this happy without a reason. She was young and spirited, and liked to be in control of what was going on around her. Everyone knew her to be a tough, independent woman who could take care of herself.  
  
Trust did not come easy to her. Out of the many friends she had made over her years of traveling, there was only one person to gain her trust. She trusted him with her life. He had proven to be there for her when she needed him the most. He was willing to risk his life time after time to help her. Soon she arrived at her office. She took her messages from Karen, went to her desk, noticed a paper with a familiar name on it, and realized why she had been smiling. She had gotten a call from an old friend.  
  
A few minutes later a medium height, average built man filled the doorway leaving only a little space for light to pass through. His dark hair danced across his forehead as he read something he held in his hands. The lighting in the room only helped to bring out his naturally darker earth tone. He slowly moved towards his desk. So fascinated by the words he read, he didn't even notice the large box in front of him and stumbled over it.  
  
"Whoops," he said in a low British accent, "better watch where I'm bloody going." He continued on to the desk and sat down, "What's this? Must have come this morning. Well, it's marked for me. Guess I'll open it. Ah...a series of books on mythology in different languages." He pushed it out of the way and then he continued on to read the book he had brought with him.  
  
About that time Sydney, Nigel's boss and closest friend, came out of her office smiling wider than he had ever seen before.  
  
"I just got off the phone with Carol from the Museum of Native American Arts in Canada, and she's invited us to go on a dig in Northern Canada. They think they might have found the missing headdress of the unknown Wagmatcook chief. They think it was buried a few yards from his original burial site."  
  
"Who," Nigel asked putting his book down to pay closer attention to what she was saying.  
  
"Carol Anderson."  
  
"Oh, oh, right, Carol. How is she?"  
  
"Fine. She's booked us tickets to leave now. You'll need whatever information about Native Americans you have, Nigel. They don't know what tribe it is."  
  
"Syd, can I talk to you?" he asked with a hint of hesitation in his voice.  
  
"Sure." she said in a tone that almost matched his.  
  
They slipped into her office, leaving Karen to go ahead with the necessary paperwork. After shutting the door behind them, Sydney turned and shot a look of bewilderment at Nigel.  
  
"What was it you wanted to talked about?"  
  
"Are you sure this relic is for real, Sydney? Are you sure we're not being lead on?" Nigel asked with a questioning look on his face.  
  
"Why would you say that, Nigel? This relic could be the find we have been waiting for. Why are you so against going? You're usually up for things like this. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Really, Syd. I've just had a lot to do lately. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep."  
  
"Why?" she asked as concern for him filled her soft voice.  
  
"I don't know. I just haven't been sleeping well lately. Nothing to worry about. I'll be fine," he said pushing the subject off.  
  
Noticing he didn't want to talk about it any more, she quickly went back to the hunt. "So is it one ticket or two? You know I can't do this without you. Well?"  
  
"Two. I'll start packing tonight when I get home."  
  
"Great!" she said excitedly as she headed off for her first class of the day.  
  
"Do we have everything? Maps, camping gear, food rations? Everything's here. Good." Nigel said as he checked over their packs. Nigel had thought that maybe he could catch a quick nap on the short plane ride. Having not gotten any sleep the night before, he was tired, and his body ached. He didn't really feel like being there, but knew that it was his job to help Sydney.  
  
When they arrived at the airport in Northern Canada, a car was already waiting on them. The driver took them to their hotel where they were to unpack, and later meet Carol at a small cafe' below. The cafe' was quaint and lightly dimmed. Except for the small staff, only a few natives filled the dining area. Sydney had just returned when Nigel asked, "So what time was she supposed to be here?"  
  
"Around noon. What time is it?" she asked looking down to where the forgotten watch would have been.  
  
"12:03. She's late. That's not like her, is it?" he asked still questioning the trip.  
  
"Well, maybe she got caught in traffic," Sydney said while she looked around the room viewing every face. Maybe Nigel's right. Might this hunt isn't for real. Just at the moment when Sydney was ready to admit to Nigel that he might have been right, Carol walked over to them.  
  
"Sydney! Nigel! I'm sorry I'm late. How are you?!" she asked in a very excited voice as she hugged each of them tightly.  
  
"We're fine! How are you? You look great!" Sydney said in almost the same tone of voice. The smile she had had the day Carol had called her was now back and in full bloom.  
  
"Thanks. How was the trip? Good I hope."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"I'm so glad you guys came. You won't believe what we've found. Some of the onsite experts say we may have found the actual headdress of the Unknown Chief."  
  
"That's amazing. This will really help your career."  
  
"It will help your guys' as well. I plan on sharing the credit with both of you. Well, if we want to get to the site before dark, we should leave now. Do you have your references with you, Nigel?" she asked as she led them to her jeep.  
  
"Yes. I brought them with me so we wouldn't have to go back to the hotel," he said throwing his light pack over his shoulders.  
  
" Your pack looks light. Shouldn't you have more books? Or is it all on paper?" Carol asked overlooking his bag.  
  
"Actually most of it is on my laptop. I stayed up later last night downloading pictures onto the files in the database. The rest is paper for rubbings."  
  
"So, how have you been?" Carol asked making small talk as she started the jeep.  
  
"Fine."  
  
They reached the dig site a little after dark. Sydney and Nigel thought it best that they waited until morning to visit the site. They both had tents set up for them ten feet away from the excavation site. They settled in, then joined again for a late super with Carol. When they had finished their so-called Canadian ham sandwiches and their talks about old times, they went back to their tents, said their 'good nights', then settled into their cots for the last night of relaxation. Knowing that this would be the last time her muscles wouldn't ache for several hours, Sydney laid in peace and dozed off to sleep fast.  
  
Nigel, on the other hand, already ached. Every muscle that possessed his body was tired and telling him to sleep. Nagging at every movement he made, he knew his body wouldn't hold out much longer. He prayed he could at least hold out until they returned home. He sat down on the small cot, pulled his laptop out of his bag, and began to study the images that appeared.  
  
The next morning Sydney joined Nigel and Carol for breakfast. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she overheard them talking.  
  
"So, exactly how early did you get up, Nigel?"  
  
"About 3:30." Nigel answered clearly.  
  
"Nigel, it's already 7:00. We didn't get here until eight, and we didn't go to bed 'til almost midnight. That's only four and a half hours of sleep. You can't run on only four hours of sleep and still do an accurate job."  
  
"You'd be surprised," he said in a tone that remained clear, unchanged and even, although he felt wiped out.  
  
"Not real good though." she said noticing Sydney. "Hi, Sydney. Come join us."  
  
"Morning, Syd," Nigel included.  
  
"Morning, Carol. Morning, Nigel. Don't mind if I do." she said as she sat down next to Nigel. "Sleep any better last night, Nigel?"  
  
"Yes. Somewhat. I've found some hints on which direction our headdress may be buried. Do you see the little carvings around the edge of the stone head there? I took this earlier this morning, than ran them through the database, and found this. Translations for each picture."  
  
"So why can't we just put the translations in order and go from there?" Carol asked.  
  
"It can't be that easy." Sydney commented.  
  
"It's not. There's about four or five translations for each symbol, and there's about twenty symbols." Nigel explained.  
  
"This is going to take some time. Nigel, how long is it going to take you to translate any of he symbols?"  
  
"I don't know. I have to go through each one more than once."  
  
"How about you stay here and translate these, and I'll go look around the area for clues?" Sydney suggested.  
  
"Sounds like a good plan. At least it's a place to start."  
  
"Carol, what are you going to do?"  
  
"I have to go into town for a meeting with the museum. I need to make arrangements for when we bring in the headdress."  
  
"Okay. So we'll see you later then."  
  
Sydney and Carol left Nigel in the tent, then split up when they reaches the jeep. Carol wished Sydney good luck, then left for the city. Sydney walked towards the excavation site where she noticed Nigel had been earlier that morning taking pictures and rubbings of the different carvings. She looked around the site for any clues to help them. The workers knew as well as she did that no one had disturbed this area for several years. Meaning that anything there was probably placed by tribesmen or settlers long ago.  
  
Several hours passed, and noon came. Sydney rejoined Nigel in the mess tent hoping that he had better luck than she did.  
  
"Afternoon, Syd. Any luck?"  
  
"I was going to ask you the same thing. And no. How are you doing?" she asked, her voice weak from dry mouth.  
  
" Yes, actually. I was able to sort of break the code as it were. Now all of the pictures here represent an animal sacred to them. If you put them in alphabetical order and combine them with the second meaning, or their spirit order, you get this."  
  
"What is it exactly?" she asked taking a bite of a leftover sandwich.  
  
"It's a chart of all their great chiefs of the past."  
  
"And this tells us how to find the Unknown Chief how?"  
  
"All the chiefs were buried in a clockwise formation. We just need to find the center of the clock."  
  
"And then what? We still don't know the direction in which to go."  
  
"That's where the third translation comes into play. It tells which direction to go. It jumps around the clock shape making it more difficult to find priceless items."  
  
"And if you don't know whose treasures is buried where, no one looks for it. But, what about the other symbols? You said they had four or five translations."  
  
"Yes. They're dummies to throw people off. Brilliant!"  
  
As Nigel led Sydney and the workers to the center of the burial sites, he felt weak from lack of sleep; but at the same time he felt overjoyed at figuring out the location of the headdress. It wasn't hard to find after calculating the signs in the center. Nigel and Sydney measured off in the direction Nigel discovered, marked the spot, and let the workers do the rest. They watched as they threw the heavy dirt covering the case. When they had finished, they all helped to pull the case, which held the magnificently blue, green and gold headdress, out. They carefully moved it back to camp, where they prepared it to be transported to the museum. Carol had just returned when they showed up with the headdress. She nearly came to tears looking at it. They all celebrated the find that evening with champagne and warm smiles.  
  
The next morning Carol drove the tired Sydney and the exhausted Nigel back to their unused hotel. They packed what was left of their bags, said their 'good byes' to Carol, and boarded the plane. The flight back was more relaxing than the flight there. When the plane had landed and they retrieved their bags, Karen helped them load the car, then drove them back to their apartments.  
  
The next day, they returned to their normal lives with the feeling that they had found something that would change the history books. The rest of the day was spent grading papers and exams, and teaching a new generation about the Missing Headdress of the Unknown Wagmatcook Chief. 


End file.
